Business Friendly Bus

[Jetfire]

Moncton, New Brunswick's transit system has WiFi through the entire system.. My local city considered doing it, but decided not to for now.

[Akasa]

They used to have it on some of the buses here, but they stopped for some reason right around the time I moved here. /shrug
I tell you it would make the hour and a half trip to my doctor a lot easier to bear.

[ThirdGenRetail]

A few buses in the HRT fleet have WiFi. It's pretty much only the Maxx buses, which do a direct zip line between point a and point B(As an example, the two end points for one of the routes I ride regularly are the ocean front in VB, and Cedar Grove in Norfolk. If I take the 20 from one to the other, it could take me an hour or two, give or take for traffic and stops, because it's traveling along the boulevard. That runs the usual rate of $1.50. If I take the Maxx from point A to point B, it hops on the freeway, I think.. And costs something like $3 one way.). Let's just say that the one time I caught a Maxx bus because it happened to be cycled into the 20 route that day, I was VERY happy because those seats are COMFORTABLE ~ I didn't try the WiFi, though, and didn't look for plugs...

Also, while the Maxx do have their WiFi, it's not so simple as 'pay once, ride all day' - Firstly, once that bus reaches either the beach or Cedar Grove, if you want to continue on... I'd imagine the drivers would be suspicious. But you also have to pay again, or have bought a day pass($3.50 on the regular routes, not sure on the Maxx routes), so you have to get up and swipe your day pass again. Not sure that's such a good idea if you have a laptop with you, since Cedar Grove's been in the local news as a not-so-great place for a bus stop.

Also, what's that lady smoking to assume all buses are going to be equipped for laptops, let alone WiFi?

[protege]

Also, what's that lady smoking to assume all buses are going to be equipped for laptops, let alone WiFi?

Exhaust fumes do strange things

I don't think our city buses have wifi either. If they did, I'd be surprised--our transit agency is notoriously cheap.

[PepperElf]

I think some Greyhound buses on the East Coast now have that.But...that's it.

What an odd woman.

my hometown has a bus that goes to NYC overnight that has wifi but... that's not a regular public shuttle bus.

[smileyeagle1021]

The thought occurs to me... if always having internet is so important to her, why doesn't she make sure that her laptop is always charged and get a mobile data card, you can get a cheap one for like $40 a month... or even do it through your Android phone through your cell provider for $10 a month (or download software that hacks your phone to let you do it without paying the provider )
Oddly doing that I have never had problems getting online no matter whether I'm riding one of the ungodly expensive express buses or a shitty city bus (though, in fairness, the routes I use do use nicer buses, but that is only because UTA ran the old ones into the ground and had no choice but to replace them).

[pitmonkey]

The commuter trains and buses have wi-fi around here but the local runs don't.

[wagegoth]

The buses that cross the Bay here have WiFi, but they don't have charging outlets. People can ride the bus all day if they have a monthly pass, but they cost $132.50. Otherwise, it's $4 in each direction, so it would get very expensive very quickly to use it for an internet source. It was a perk to encourage commuters to take the bus, but I think $4 a gallon for gas and $5 toll charges were a bigger reason. When I first started commuting to my job, gas was $1+ a gallon and $1 for the toll.

I would sometimes take my laptop on the bus to do homework, but often I took advantage of the WiFi on my Windows phone to save on data downloads, while I'd do casual surfing and watch Netflix.

[PepperElf]

and not just a wifi broadband card but... what about an extra battery? it's not like you can't get those.

makes me think she wasn't as high and mighty a business woman like she made herself out to be...

[chainedbarista]

i haven't heard of our system (san diego) having wi fi, but considering where most of the routes go, you wouldn't want to pull out a laptop for fear of getting mugged.

[smileyeagle1021]

and not just a wifi broadband card but... what about an extra battery? it's not like you can't get those.

Or a high capacity battery, most laptops come standard with a 6 cell battery, but you can easily find 12 cell (nearly twice the battery life) for most common models of laptops.

[PastryGal]

Moncton, New Brunswick's transit system has WiFi through the entire system.. My local city considered doing it, but decided not to for now.

I was going to mention this but you beat me to it
I used to live there until a few months ago. My old roomie would use it on his iPhone when he used to take the bus to work. I believe there are also a lot of wifi hot spots downtown as well.

[BlaqueKatt]

I think some Greyhound buses on the East Coast now have that.But...that's it.

my fair city has it

[Geek King]

Or a high capacity battery, most laptops come standard with a 6 cell battery, but you can easily find 12 cell (nearly twice the battery life) for most common models of laptops.

There's also a selection of what are basically giant rechargable battery packs. I've got one from Energizer (it was on sale from Woot! one day) that is about the size of a brick, but half as thick, comes with all manner of adapters, and will run a laptop with 17" screen for an additional five-ish hours, or my PSP for about three days without recharging. Absolutely great for long trips with unreliable chances for charging.

[PepperElf]

Or a high capacity battery, most laptops come standard with a 6 cell battery, but you can easily find 12 cell (nearly twice the battery life) for most common models of laptops.

Or if you're really looking at a long haul there's always Vagabond.

Normally they're used by photographers - can't always be sure there'll be an outlet where you need one for your flash.

But hey you can use them for the laptop too! I'm not sure how many hours you'll get (that'll depend on what you pick out) but... as long as you don't mind hauling a fucking heavy battery backpack around you'll be good to go.